This article is about the Transpennine motorway from Liverpool to near Hull. For the original use of the number, the Stretford-Eccles bypass (now M60 junctions 7 to 13), see M62 (Stretford - Eccles bypass).For the 1990s proposal to build an express motorway from junction 12 to junction 18, see M62 Relief Road.

The M62 is the Lancashire - Yorkshire Motorway, passing from Liverpool on the west coast via the outskirts of Manchester, Bradford and Leeds to the high-quality A63 to the west of Hull. The section to between Liverpool and Salford was originally allocated the number M52 (though this was changed before it was built), whilst the section between Eccles (junction 12) and Simister (junction 18) was renumbered to M60 in 1998.

The number M62 was originally allocated to the Stretford–Eccles Bypass, then mostly renumbered to M63 and now entirely part of M60. There were plans to create an express motorway between Eccles and Simister allowing Trans-Pennine traffic to not have to use what is now the M60.

For part of its route the M62 is multiplexed with the M60. This is one of only three multiplexes between two motorways in Great Britain.

Junctions

Simister Island

Simister Island forms the north eastern corner of the M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road. Opened in 1970 as a standard two level roundabout with provision for an underpass onto the Bury Easterly Bypass (now M66) when constructed, it has since become vastly over-capacity. In 1999 as part of the creation of the M60, the interchange was given free-flow sliproads for all left turns, and the circulatory carriageway was widened to four lanes with colour-coded Spiral Roundabout markings to direct traffic through the newly signalised junction.

Chain Bar Interchange

Chain Bar forms the southern terminus of the M606 near Bradford in Yorkshire. The main junction is a multi-lane signalised roundabout located beneath both the M62 and M606, providing connections to both motorways and the A58 and A638. The M606 itself has direct sliproads to and from Manchester as a means of improving access to the Pennine section of the M62. The westbound flyover is subject to a 50 mph speed restriction which is enforced by speed cameras.

Lofthouse Interchange

Lofthouse Interchange connects the M1 with the M62. It initially opened in 1970 as a standard three-level roundabout. The likely reason for this was the unrealised proposals for the Flockton Link Motorway which would have cut the corner for M62 east to M1 south movements. This never happened and the roundabout consequently became a horrendous bottleneck, much like Simister Island to the west.

Scammonden Bridge

Scammonden Dam

Scammonden Dam under construction in 1970

Immediately to the east of Scammonden Bridge, the motorway passes on top of the dam holding back Scammonden reservoir. The dam and motorway were constructed at the same time, with the reservoir beginning to fill with water in July 1969 and the motorway opening to traffic in 1970.

Stott Hall Farm

Stott Hall Farm in the middle of the M62

The farm between the motorway. To the West of Scammonden Dam, between J22 and J23, the motorway carriageways split apart, with fields and a farmhouse in the central reservation. The farmhouse is called Stott Hall Farm. A common myth is that a farmer living there at the time refused to move and the farmhouse was built around it. In reality, this section of the motorway was constructed over very weak ground consisting mostly of peat bogs. Near Stott Hall Farm, the weight of two parallel carriageways and traffic on them would have caused settlement of dangerous levels affecting the carriageway (similar to the problems faced between Warrington and Salford). By splitting the carriageways the weight was spread, and as a by-product, the farm survived. Access is via two culverts under the motorway.

Ouse Motorway Bridge

The bridge carrying the M62 across the Ouse

In the East Riding of Yorkshire, the motorway is very flat in comparison to the Pennine stretch; it is possibly this landscape that makes the Ouse Motorway Bridge a recognisable feature in the area, rising to a height of 30m.

Not all of the lighting is original to the motorway, indeed much of it opened without lighting but was retrofitted due to concerns over traffic volumes and weather patterns (particularly in the moorland section between J21-28). A major lighting replacement scheme on numerous sections took place during 2011/12. Before that, the lighting stock between J18-20 was replaced in 2003 as part of a wider signing and lighting package.

At the time it was built, the lighting on the trans-Pennine section was justified by "steep hills, low cloud and complex junctions". The length of the lighting was treated as an engineering triumph at the time. Today, lighting a rural motorway is seen as wasteful.